The Minnesota Vikings hit their stride last year well before midseason Devin White Jersey , using an eight-game winning streak to build a 13-3 record for the second seed in the NFC.more difficult.More Vikings coveragePreview: Cook, Vikings look to keep rolling vs. PackersTop Tweets: Vikings prepare for Packers with TMNT hype videoBarr, seasoned Vikings defense off to strong startNew offense, same Rodgers: Vikings prep for LaFleur’s PackersVikings re-sign center Jones, waive rookie TE DillonThe challenge starts with the schedule. The next five games include trips to Chicago, New England and Seattle, with two division-leading foes and one of the toughest venues to play in. Detroit and Green Bay are the home opponents during that stretch, bringing two dangerous quarterbacks to U.S. Bank Stadium.The Vikings are also 4-3-1, just behind the Bears in the NFC North and slightly ahead of the Packers, so they’ve squandered their margin for error.“I’m not disappointed,” coach Mike Zimmer said. “It is what it is. We have eight more games to go, and that will determine what we end up doing.”After losing 30-20 to New Orleans on Sunday night L.J. Collier Jersey , the Vikings were mostly upset about the way they let the game slip away . They were in control late in the second quarter with a 13-10 lead, when Adam Thielen plunged forward for extra yardage and lost the ball at the 14-yard line. The Saints turned that fumble into a touchdown, making the potential cost of that rare mistake by Thielen a whopping 14 points.“It’s more frustrating because I think we had it going execution-wise and scheme-wise and all that,” Thielen said on Monday.“I think when it’s maybe a lack of concentration or just being too relaxed or what have you, that’s the frustrating part. Because you know how many times that you’ve done it a different way and the right way, and the one time you slip up it costs you maybe the game.”The other half of Minnesota’s dominant receiver duo, Stefon Diggs, was responsible for the other devastating turnover. Diggs stopped his drag route short before an under-pressure Kirk Cousins dumped the ball off to the spot where he expected Diggs to be had he kept running. The interception was returned for a score to give the Saints a 27-13 advantage.Thielen and Diggs were outspoken after the game about their acceptance of blame, but Zimmer wasn’t having it, and he said as much to the team.“Like I told them in the meeting today, the receivers need to stop saying that stuff because one person doesn’t lose a game. One person doesn’t win a game. We win around here as a team. We lose around here as a team,” Zimmer said.“Guys make mistakes, miscommunication Johnathan Abram Jersey , whatever you want to call it happens. I will never put any one of those one things on one player, ever.”Though the loss clearly hurt the Vikings in the conference and division standings, there were reasons for them to feel better about where they’re headed at the halfway mark. Thielen and Diggs don’t have a pattern of such gaffes, for one. They also played without six injured starters, and young subs such as right tackle Brian O’Neill, linebacker Eric Wilson and cornerback Holton Hill fared well in extended action.“I’m encouraged after this ballgame. I’m encouraged after the last four weeks,” Zimmer said. “If I was ticked off, I’d let them know. Trust me.” As they won six of seven games to join a first-place tie with Jacksonville in the AFC South, the Tennessee Titans did so while walking a tightrope not even a Wallenda might attempt.Three times in that span, Tennessee wiped out double-figure deficits and made key plays in the fourth quarter to win. The run of success seemed to be built with a foundation of chewing gum, duct tape and baling wire.The flimsy foundation finally fell apart last week in Arizona, but with a twist. This time, the Titans squandered a 7-0 halftime lead and lost 12-7 Maxx Crosby Jersey , dropping a game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars in the division race.And as they prepare for what they hope is a bounce-back game Sunday at the San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee (8-5) faces some real questions about its offense in general and quarterback Marcus Mariota in particular.“It’s very fixable,” Titans coach Mike Mularkey said. “There are things in life that aren’t. This is one that is. We’ve got a good group, a veteran staff that has been in a lot of meetings, a lot of rooms and a lot of games, and been with a lot of players.“These guys trust what we’re going to do. We’re looking at it all over how we can get better. Everybody is. It’s being addressed.”It was anticipated that after the second half of last year, when the Titans were one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses, that its power running game would continue to lead to favorable one-on-one matchups for Mariota.Instead, Tennessee’s running game has slipped from top five to top 10, hampered by injuries on the offensive line and to running back DeMarco Murray. Mariota’s slide has been more pronounced, particularly in the last four games, when he’s tossed eight of his 14 interceptions.Mariota threw two picks at Arizona, one in the third quarter at the Cardinals’ 5 as the offense was driving for a score to extend a tenuous 7-6 lead Foster Moreau Jersey , and the other in the fourth quarter that led to Phil Dawson’s fourth field goal of the day.Mariota has dealt with injuries and inexperience at wide receiver, as well as his own ailments, including a knee injury in the first half last week that affected his level of play in the second half. But it’s hard to blame that solely for four more interceptions than touchdowns going into Week 15.“It affected a number of things,” Mularkey said of Mariota’s injury at Arizona. “It limited us game plan-wise, more than you can imagine. I know it was on his mind. He missed some throws he usually doesn’t miss.”While Mariota missed throws, San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo didn’t. In his second start with the 49ers on Sunday at Houston, the former New England Patriots’ backup threw for 334 yards and a touchdown in a 26-16 win.Garoppolo has won all four career starts, including his first two for San Francisco, but first-year coach Kyle Shanahan said his presence isn’t the sole reason for consecutive victories.“To put all of that on one person, I think, would be unfair to him and the rest of the guys,” Shanahan said. “I think Jimmy’s played very well these last two games. I think the guys around him have played pretty well, too.”Case in point: Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin Joey Bosa Jersey , who caught six passes for 106 yards at Houston, giving him 783 yards on 41 grabs this year. In four previous seasons with Buffalo, Goodwin amassed 780 receiving yards.Talk about your breakout seasons. Goodwin, with help from veteran Pierre Garcon, who’s now on injured reserve, is having one.“That’s what we believed he could be, and I still believe he can be more,” Shanahan said of Goodwin. “His ceiling is extremely high. He has the speed that scares people. He can break down very well. His hands are much better than people realize.”While the 49ers (3-10) will miss the playoffs for the fourth straight year, they could have an impact on who does. After this week’s matchup, they finish the year by hosting Jacksonville and visiting the Los Angeles Rams.Shanahan might be publicly downplaying it, but the presence of Garoppolo certainly makes San Francisco a tougher out than it’s been most of the year.Especially for an opponent whose quarterback is still searching for the form that stamped him as a rising star a year ago.